Copywriting Agency: Why You Probably Don’t Need One (And What to Do Instead)
Every “copywriting agency” says the same thing.
“We tell your brand story.”
“We make words that sell.”
“We turn your vision into voice.”
Cool. So does literally everyone with Wi-Fi and a pulse.
If you’ve ever hired a copywriting agency, you already know the pattern:
you brief them, they nod enthusiastically, and two weeks later you receive 1,000 words that sound like they were written by a boardroom committee trying to remember how humans speak.
This isn’t about bashing agencies. Some are brilliant.
But most of the copy that passes for “professional” now reads like an HR memo that went through a thesaurus.
Let’s talk about why.
The industrialisation of creativity
There was a time when copywriters were artists.
They’d chain-smoke ideas into existence, argue about verbs, and write ads so good they made other writers jealous.
Then came SEO, content calendars, and “deliverables.”
Suddenly, writing wasn’t creative — it was scalable.
Agencies started treating words like widgets: measurable, repeatable, and infinitely replaceable.
Which is how we ended up here — drowning in “thought-leadership” pieces that have zero thought and no leadership.
What’s wrong with most copywriting agencies
They’re optimised for efficiency, not depth.
You’re paying for a workflow, not insight.
A senior strategist sells you the dream.
A junior writer executes the brief.
An editor smooths it out until it sounds like it could belong to any company in the world.
You end up with something technically perfect but emotionally vacant.
Like a well-punctuated funeral.
And because it’s clean, you approve it.
Then wonder why no one reads it.
What clients actually want (but rarely say)
You don’t want words.
You want clarity.
You want someone who can crawl inside your customer’s brain, name the feeling they’ve never said out loud, and make your product the answer.
That’s not a service. That’s empathy mixed with structure.
And that’s why AI — when used properly — is quietly dismantling the agency model.
The rise of the “AI copywriter”
Right now, agencies are terrified of ChatGPT.
Not because it replaces them — but because it exposes how formulaic they’ve become.
If your entire process is “research, write, revise,” an AI can do that in ten seconds.
But the future isn’t human vs. machine.
It’s humans who think + machines that scale.
That’s the new creative team.
The writer becomes a director — orchestrating tone, testing angles, using AI to pressure-test every line.
The agencies that survive will be the ones that systemise thinking, not just output.
How to tell if you’re about to hire the wrong agency
Ask them what their process looks like.
If they say “we’ll start with keyword research,” run.
If they mention “deliverables” before “strategy,” run faster.
A good copywriting agency starts by diagnosing your business logic.
Who are you talking to?
What do they actually want?
Why should they believe you?
Everything else is decoration.
What to do instead
If you’re a founder or small team, skip the agency altogether.
You don’t need 10 people to find your message — you just need a structured conversation with yourself (and a very cooperative AI).
Here’s how I’d do it.
Define the tension.
What problem are you actually solving, emotionally?
(Hint: it’s never “saving time.” It’s “feeling in control again.”)Find the wedge.
Ask ChatGPT:“Act as a strategist. Identify three positioning angles where my offer could stand out without lowering price.”
Build the message.
“Turn that positioning into three message pillars. For each, give a proof point and emotional hook.”
Write the copy.
“Using these pillars, write one homepage headline and one 100-word hero section that sounds confident, not desperate.”
That’s your first draft done — by you, guided by logic.
Then you iterate.
Not until it sounds fancy. Until it sounds true.
Why this approach works
When you understand your own message, every word gets easier.
You stop outsourcing clarity.
AI doesn’t make you a copywriter; it forces you to become a strategist.
That’s a better return on time than any agency retainer.
If you want the pre-built system that walks you through this step by step — the same one I use to build marketing frameworks inside ChatGPT — it’s already done for you inside LiftKit.
The secret the agencies won’t say out loud
Most clients don’t need a copywriting agency.
They need a thinking process.
They hire writers to find their story, when what they really need is someone to ask the right questions.
That’s what structure gives you.
That’s what AI (used correctly) amplifies.
The only time you should hire an agency
When you’ve already done the thinking and just need scale.
When you’ve validated your message and want it expressed in 20 formats.
When you’re drowning in opportunity, not confusion.
Otherwise, you’re paying people to guess on your behalf.
And guessing, in marketing, is just gambling with nicer fonts.
Key takeaways
• Most copywriting agencies sell polish, not insight.
• Great copywriting is a by-product of clarity, not creativity.
• AI exposes lazy process but rewards structured thinking.
• Founders who learn to brief well never run out of content.
• The best writer for your brand is probably you — with a system.
If you’re ready to build that system, not just buy words, start with LiftKit — the 80-prompt playbook that turns ChatGPT into your strategist, copywriter, and CMO in one.
